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After the truth of the existence of God, there is no stronger truth than the truth of the immortality of the human soul. “Am I the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Matthew 22:32). That is, the souls of the dead Abraham, Isaac and Jacob after their release from the body are not dead, but alive, for all are alive for Him. Thus, the Lord Himself testifies to the immortality of human souls after death. In this life, few, few people know themselves - they live, as it were, in the dreams of dreams and practice in vain affairs. The terrible hour of death will show them at once their terrible dream, but it will be too late, there will be no return, the exposure of all life’s falsehood and true deeds of truth and light will come. The wise Solomon, who became vanity like all mortals, was given the opportunity to know in what constant vanity all people are immersed, and he loudly announced to the human world: “Vanity of vanities... everything is vanity!” (Eccl. 12:8), naturally all the sons of men are vanity. He finally learned the following truth: “fear God and keep His commandments, because this is all for man” (Eccl. 12:13), the whole task of life, all his good. All the saints lived and turned in the truth of God, these true philosophers, true Christian heroes, fighters against vanity and all sin, followers of truth and virtue, true knowers of themselves and God, His true lovers (3). How will I prove to all those of little faith the immortality of the human soul? There is so much evidence of this, brothers, that I don’t know where to start... I'll start with this. The human soul is the breath of the Divine, it is the image and likeness of God, as it is said: “Let us make man in our image [and] likeness” (Gen. 1:26). God is Immortal, which means our soul is immortal. The human soul is, as scientists say, a simple, uncomplicated being, which means there is nothing in it to collapse or die. She lives, undoubtedly, even after physical death. Proof of this is the writings of people left after their death, their wills, transmitted orally or in writing, and their instructions. The deceased speak to our mind and heart even after their death, and their words are heeded, their words are fulfilled by families, villages, cities, kingdoms, the whole world. Let us take as an example the writings of the apostles and our God-bearing fathers. The apostles lived before us more than 1800 years ago. But their writings teach, console, and guide people all over the world in the Christian faith and life, as it is said: “their voice went through all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world” (Rom. 10:18). They teach people of all ages and will be the light of the world, the salt of the earth until the end of the age. By reading or listening to the Word of God preached by the apostles, we, living people, receive a new, better, grace-filled life for our souls, although they themselves have died and have not visibly taught us for a long time in their bodies. What does this mean? The fact that they are always alive in God, and when we read or listen to their writings, we talk, as it were, face to face with them themselves, with their souls, which are always close to us in God. Thus, it is known about Saint John Chrysostom that when he read the writings of the holy Apostle Paul and was engaged in their interpretation, the holy Apostle Paul himself talked with him and revealed to him the true meaning of his messages. The reverend and God-bearing Fathers of the Church, who lived many years before us and left us their prayers, hymns, whole services, various rules and regulations of the church, still pray with us, sing praises to the Triune God, performing sacred acts with us invisibly, govern our spiritual life, our church celebrations. What else can be said about their writings? How much spiritual benefit, light, strength, peace, sweetness, life they bring to our souls! What life they pour into our souls - they are apparently outdated and no longer seem to exist! Oh, they live even after death! - and just as their word does not die, much less their souls, which gave birth to such a word, also do not die. If their word is immortal, then, of course, the soul is the source of the word. I will further prove the immortality of the soul by the fact that Christ the Lord God and Man, risen from the dead, laid the foundation for our blessed resurrection with His resurrection. This example speaks most clearly and powerfully about the immortality of our soul. Our Lord Jesus Christ, according to His human nature, inseparably united with the Divine, lives after the Resurrection from the dead forever and ever: “and he was dead, and behold, he is alive forever and ever” (Rev. 1:18), says He Himself. But He took upon Himself humanity for us, and not for Himself, and everything that He did, He did in order to give us an image, that is, to teach us, to show us by example, to demonstrate in practice what awaits us in the future. So, if He was dead and is now alive forever and ever, then after death we will live forever and ever. Indeed, He is alive forever and ever, He, in His own words, is with us “always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). Christ the Savior constantly, every day without number, saves us from sins and passions through our prayer. The abyss of salvation for countless Christian souls comes from Him every hour, every minute, and with the eyes of the heart all those who are saved see His salvation and thank Him and glorify Him for the abyss of His love for mankind, for the abyss of His mercies. He lives constantly in the hearts of people faithful to Him, and is for them a Source of spiritual light, strength, peace, and consolation. If He, who became Man for our sake, was alive in spirit even after bodily death and went down to hell to preach victory over death there and to deliver the souls of people who were awaiting His coming with faith, if after His death and Resurrection from the dead He lives in spirit and human body forever and ever and constantly reveals in us His omnipotent, Theanthropic power, then after our death we will be alive in our souls forever and ever: He “not is the God of the dead, but of the living, for with Him all are alive” (Luke 20:38), and after the resurrection of our bodies we will live forever in our own bodies. The Immaculate Mother of Spasova, like her Son and Her God, is also alive after death not only in soul, but also in body, and, as the most merciful and well-powered Mother of all Christians, she also saved, is saving and will save in all ages all who, with faith, hope and love, prayerfully turn to Her in all sorrows, sins and illnesses, praying for all of us Her Son, Christ our God, and all creating salvation for those who resort to Her sovereign protection... So, beloved brothers, believe without any doubt in the immortality of the human soul after death. May the Mother of God, living even after death and always saving Her inheritance, assure you undoubtedly of this great truth. And believing in the immortality of your soul, remember that after death we will all one day appear before the judgment seat of Christ, “so that everyone may receive according to what he did while living in the body, whether good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10). Therefore, pray to the Queen of Heaven, that She may pray to Her Son, that He may open to you the humane wombs of His goodness, and, despising your countless sins, turn you to repentance and reveal you as skillful fulfillers of His commandments. Pray to Her that She will always stand before you as merciful and compassionate and humane, in your present life being a warm Representative and Helper, driving away the invasions of demons from you and guiding you to salvation, and during the exodus from this life would preserve your souls, drive away the dark faces of crafty spirits far from you, on the terrible day would save you from eternal torment and make you heirs of the unspeakable glory of the Son and His God (12). Vedatel (obsolete) – expert. You might be interested in: